Jason Kelce has been a source of inspiration for many throughout the years. But after 13 years of service to the game with the Philadelphia Eagles, he’s finally hanging up his cleats. His trainer recently shared a story, which cements the incredible legacy of Kelce by highlighting his gold-hearted nature.
Eagles trainer Joe O’Pella played a key role in Kelce’s long run in Philly. But he missed Kelce’s final game of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to a cancer diagnosis. However, in an Instagram post, O’Pella revealed how the outgoing Eagles Center gave him a chance to be the last person to tape his ankles and thumb one last time.
Joe O’Pella taped Jason Kelce for the last time before his retirement announcement
Taking to Instagram O’Pella shared a series of photos of himself with Kelce throughout the years and wrote a detailed caption giving fans an insight into his relationship with the center and how he reached out to him during his cancer diagnosis.
Describing how he was regretting not being able to tape him for the last time he wrote, “I taped this guy’s ankles and thumbs everyday for 13 seasons, and when he played his last game in Tampa, again I couldn’t be there due to cancer. And when he told me he would be retiring and I expressed my regret of not being the last person to ever tape him, and he offered to have me tape him for his retirement press conference. That’s who he is. And I hope these stories can add to an already unbelievable legacy.”
Joseph O’Pella joined the Eagles organization in 2008 and was promoted to the role of associate athletic trainer in 2018. O’Pella first met Jason Kelce during his second season with the franchise. Since then, the trainer taped the center’s ankles and thumbs until his final season. But his cancer diagnosis meant he missed out on the opportunity to do so in Kelce’s final game.
So in a touching move, Kelce asked O’Pella to be the last person to tape him before his emotional retirement announcement. Even though Kelce wasn’t heading out to the field, he wanted O’Pella to tape his ankles and thumbs one last time. But that’s not all.
O’Pella also mentioned Kelce offering his help during his cancer diagnosis. “And in what would be his final season, when I was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo radiation and chemo, he offered his shore house if I needed to get away, and offered to pay for meal services to help my wife and I out, and he called me randomly when I had been home, too sick to come in bc of chemo, just to check on me and chat about random things. That’s who he is as a person.”
In his post, O’Pella also mentioned how he asked the Eagles head trainer in Kelce’s second year if he could look after the center’s physical rehabilitation after he had torn his knee ligaments. O’Pella further detailed his relationship with Kelce in the heartwarming post.
O’Pella and Jason Kelce were at each other’s weddings
In his detailed Instagram post, O’Pella also described his relationship with Kelce from the moment he took care of the Eagles center. He wrote, “You all know about the on-field accomplishments, and many of the off-the-field ones too, but what this man has meant to me and now my family over the past decade plus is nearly indescribable.”
View this post on Instagram
He added the two went from sleeping on each other’s couches to being present at each other’s wedding. “From being his Wing Bowl “cornerman”, to hour long rehab sessions followed by nights out on the town, to sleeping on each other’s couches to being at each other’s weddings, to Sea Isle City Polar Bear Plunges to Super Bowl appearances and a ring, we were there doing it together,” he wrote.
Jason Kelce’s gesture of allowing O’Pella to be the last person to tape him will tug at the heartstrings of many. Missing out on the opportunity in his final season, O’Pella was disappointed, but just like in his playing days, Jason Kelce had a big surprise for his old friend up his sleeve.
